indiana state department of toxicology - in.gov report 2018.pdfcases may be submitted to isdt for...

Indiana State Department of Toxicology

2018 Annual Report

2018 Breath Tests Conducted 2018 Blood Evidence Lab Submissions

Cover photo:

The front cover documents, by county, the number of completed evidentiary breath tests administered in 2018 and the number of cases submitted for laboratory analysis. All counties use the Intox EC/IR II breath test instrument provided by the Department of Toxicology, though not all counties use the Department of Toxicology for forensic laboratory analysis. Both the number of agencies using the Department of Toxicology for laboratory analysis and the total number of cases submitted have continued to increase over the last several years.


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Overview The mission of the Indiana State Department of Toxicology (ISDT) is to provide quality forensic toxicological services and education for the state of Indiana. ISDT’s objectives are to provide an accurate and reliable alcohol breath test program, produce quality toxicology analyses of blood samples for alcohol and selected drugs, supply expert testimony, and provide education on the science of forensic toxicology.

ISDT management and staff understand that quality results are obtained through professional, ethical, and unbiased analyses of evidentiary specimens entrusted to the Department for testing. The key to interpreting and understanding these results is the Department’s policy of open communication and willingness to provide instruction on the science of forensic toxicology.

Budget ISDT’s budget is comprised of general fund appropriations, limited Breath Test Program fees, and, when awarded, federal grants. In 2018 the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) awarded the Department of Toxicology $250,000 from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration funds for reduction of its analytical case backlog and $50,000 for staff overtime. These funds are being used to decrease turnaround times for traffic-related drug analysis request cases. ICJI also awarded the Department approximately $277,000 to purchase a Liquid Chromatograph Time of Flight (LC/TOF) instrument. This instrument is used to screen blood samples for drugs. Drug confirmation testing is then performed on those samples with positive drug screens.

Staffing ISDT ended 2018 with 20 of its 24 positions filled, as detailed in Table 1. The Department contracts with the Indiana Office of Technology, the State Budget Agency, and the State Personnel Department for computer support, accounting services, and human resource matters, respectively. ISDT filled the vacant Assistant Director position in 2018. This created a vacant Analytical Laboratory Supervisor position, which was then also filled. The organization chart and contact information for ISDT are provided in the last two pages of this report. Table 1: Department of Toxicology Staffing as of 12/31/18

Position Staff Position Staff Director 1 Analytical Lab Supervisor 1 Assistant Director 1 Forensic Scientist 10 (1 vacant) Toxicologist/QC Coordinator 1 Evidence Control Specialist 2 General Counsel 1 Breath Test Program Supervisor 1 Program Coordinator 1 (1 vacant) Breath Test Instrument Inspector 4 (1 vacant) Administrative Assistant 1 (1 vacant)

Training As part of ISDT’s objective of providing education on the science of forensic toxicology, various members of the Department gave presentations at national conferences as well as provided training for prosecutors and public defenders. Two of the presentations at national conferences


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discussed ISDT’s current method for screening whole blood cases for the presence of THC using LC/TOF. In addition, the Department provided several tours of its facility.

Department members also attended numerous trainings in 2018. The Department Toxicologist attended a postmortem interpretive course, and she and the Breath Test Program Supervisor attended the International Association for Chemical Testing conference. The Assistant Director and a Breath Test Instrument Inspector attended the Intoximeters Maintenance School for the Intox EC/IR II breath test instrument. The Director and Assistant Director attended the Midwest Crime Directors Meeting. Finally, four members of the Department attended the Midwest Association of Toxicology and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring conference.

Employees who attended training or conferences, upon their return, shared the knowledge gained with other ISDT staff.

Customers In 2018, ISDT analyzed blood samples submitted by 397 agencies, including coroners, town marshals, municipal and county departments, and state law enforcement agencies, which is consistent with the number of agencies submitting blood samples in 2017. Nineteen new agencies submitted blood samples to ISDT in 2018, which equates to approximately 5% of submitting agencies in 2018 using the Department’s laboratory services for the first time. Most agencies submit samples for analysis in evidence collection kits provided by the Department. ISDT encourages agencies to return expired ISDT-furnished evidence collection kits for refurbishment and redistribution, which results in cost savings to the Department of approximately $3.00 per kit.

The breath test program includes 4,716 trained and certified breath test operators who work for 410 different law enforcement agencies. The reduction of trained and certified breath test operators from the total of 5,056 reported in the 2017 Annual Report may be due, in part, to the manner in which the statistics were gathered by different individuals.

In 2017, ISDT implemented an online program that allows the public to obtain certified copies of certifications of breath test instruments and breath test operators at any time. This program has now been in use for one year, with positive results. ISDT has received very few requests for these records. Requesting parties directed to the online program have provided positive feedback.

The information on ISDT’s web site (www.IN.gov\isdt) was updated in 2018 to make it more user-friendly and to provide more relevant information. The site still contains information on ordering evidence collection kits, sample submission protocols, testing parameters, available training, fees related to the breath test program, directions for use of the online breath test officer recertification program, and a link to the database that provides free, certified copies of breath test instrument and operator certifications, as well as a list of certified ignition interlock device models along with contact information for providers of ignition interlock devices.


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http://www.in.gov/isdt

Testimony The Department received approximately 1,013 subpoenas in 2018, or 13 more than in 2017. This included subpoenas related to laboratory testing, breath tests, and interpretation of laboratory and breath test results. Testimony was provided only 64 times: 34 times by forensic scientists and the assistant director, 3 times by the breath test program supervisor, and 27 times by the forensic toxicologist. This is a 38% reduction in testifying events from 2017. Several times during 2018, as in past years, ISDT personnel appeared in response to a subpoena but did not testify due to plea agreements or continuances.

Blood Analysis The Department moved all drug screening analysis to the LC/TOF platform in 2018, eliminating the use of Enzyme Link Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for drug screening analysis. This move will allow ISDT more flexibility in the future when adding additional drugs to its screening panel. This move did negatively impact the drug backlog. It is ISDT’s goal that significant decreases in the backlog and turnaround times for drug analysis will be seen in 2019.

ISDT continued to see an increase in case submissions in 2018, as shown in Chart 1. The Department received 11,578 submissions in 2018, which is 332 more cases than were received in 2017. This averages to 27.66 more cases submitted each month, or a 3% increase over 2017 submissions. Submissions have climbed steadily since the Department’s first year as a state agency in 2012, when the Department received 5,960 cases for analysis. The number of 2018 submissions compared to 2012 submissions amounts to an increase of 94% in just seven years.

Cases may be submitted to ISDT for alcohol analysis, drug analysis, or both. Cases submitted in 2018 included 8,368 requests for alcohol analysis and 8,201 requests for drug analysis. In total, the Department received 16,569 requests for analysis in 2018. Due to the number of cases with single requests, the total number of requests decreased in 2018, even though the total number of cases submitted increased.

When cases are submitted to ISDT, the submitter indicates offense information on the Toxicology Analysis Request form. The offense information in the 2018 submissions indicated that 59.9% of the cases recieved by ISDT involved operating a vehicle while intoxicated; 15.7% involved personal injury crashes including serious bodily injury; 13.6% involved property damage crashes, and 3.1% involved fatal crashes, with other types of submissions accounting for the remaining 7.7%. Of the 11,578 cases analyzed, 92.3% of the cases were traffic related. Overall, traffic-related cases decreased by 2.8% as compared to 2017. This may be partially accounted for by the increase in homicide indicated cases.


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Chart 1: Department of Toxicology Submissions

ISDT completed 7,842 requests for alcohol analysis in 2018, compared to 7,973 requests in 2017, as shown in Chart 2. The number of requests for alcohol analysis pending at the end of 2018 was 1,761. This was slightly higher than the 1,369 cases pending at the end of 2017. In 2018, the number of scientists performing alcohol analysis was limited due to training of a new scientist and another scientist being on extended leave.

Chart 2: Alcohol Analyses Completed, Requests, and Pending

ISDT completed 4,812 requests for drug analysis in 2018, as shown in Chart 3. This was a significant reduction compared to 2017. A limited number of scientists trained to conduct drug screening and staff time spent in validations of new instruments and methods contributed to the decrease in productivity. In addition, backlogs in drug screening limited the number of cases available for confirmatory analysis in 2018. The number of pending requests for drug analysis at

5,9606,690 7,292

8,98010,394

11,246 11,578

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2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018Completed 3,538 4,484 6,187 7,098 7,797 7,973 7,842Requests 4,428 4,952 5,591 7,058 7,911 8,428 8,368Pending 1,011 1,480 868 820 871 1,369 1,761

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the end of 2018 was 6,074, or approximately 78% more cases than in 2017. Many factors contributed to this increase in the drug analysis backlog, and ISDT has been working to address these issues with an emphasis on significantly reducing the backlogs in 2019.

Chart 3: Drug Analyses Completed, Requests, and Pending

Sixty-eight percent of cases screened for drugs in 2018 screened positive for one or more drugs or drug metabolites. Of the cases that screened positive, 35.2% were positive for opioids (with 11.4% being positive for Fentanyl), 33.4% were positive for benzodiazepines/z-drugs; 38.9% were positive for stimulants; 1.5% were positive for muscle relaxants, and less than 1% were positive for barbiturates. Drugs from the cannabinoids drug class were the most common, screening positive in 60.6% of cases with positive drug screens. This year’s distribution was consistent with the 2017 distribution, with the exceptions that stimulants increased from 34% to 38.9% and cannabinoids decreased from 64% to 60.6%.

A list of all the drugs and drug metabolites included in the Department’s current drug screening panel can be found on ISDT’s web site “www.IN.gov/isdt.”

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018Completed 4,003 5,153 5,739 6,475 6,185 9,473 4,812Requests 5,316 5,493 5,686 6,849 7,962 8,406 8,201Pending 2,061 2,412 2,361 2,721 4,438 3,408 6,074

- 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000

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Table 2: Pending Analysis Summary

As shown in Table 2: Pending Analysis Summary, there were 7,835 pending alcohol and drug requests at the close of 2017. The majority of the requests (77.5%) were for drug analysis. The number of pending alcohol analysis requests increased in 2018 as compared to 2017. Although the average turnaround time for completion of an alcohol analysis request increased from the 2017 turnaround time, it was consistent with the 2016 turnaround time of 54 days.

Chart 4: Blood Alcohol Analysis by Gender As indicated by submitting agencies on Toxicology Analysis Request forms, the majority (72%) of samples submitted for alcohol analysis were from male subjects, with samples from female subjects comprising 27%. The distribution of male and female subjects remained the same in 2018 as reported in 2017. The male-to-female ratio for blood alcohol analysis is also consistent with the ratio of male-to-female breath test subjects: 75% to 25%.

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Alcohol Analysis 1011 1480 868 820 871 1369 1761 Drug Analysis 2061 2412 2361 2721 4438 3408 6074 Total 3072 3892 3229 3541 5309 4777 7835

Over 15 Days 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Alcohol Analysis 856 1390 680 555 681 1062 1492 Drug Analysis 1895 2318 2165 2477 4252 3095 5823 Total 2751 3708 2845 3032 4933 4157 7315

Over 30 Days 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Alcohol Analysis 691 1063 461 261 396 762 1279 Drug Analysis 1688 1989 1956 2181 3944 2752 5586 Total 2379 3052 2417 2442 4340 3514 6865


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Chart 5: Blood Alcohol Case Distribution by Results

Chart 5 shows the distribution of blood alcohol analysis results by blood alcohol concentration. The red bars indicate the statutory alcohol limits for commercial driver license holders (0.040 g/100 mL of blood), and operation of a vehicle (0.080 and 0.150 g/100 mL of blood).

Of the total number of blood alcohol results reported, 90.8% of the alcohol concentrations were 0.080 g/100 mL of blood or higher, which is consistent with the 90.9% of breath test subjects with alcohol concentrations of 0.080 g/210 L of breath or higher. The percentage of blood test subjects with alcohol concentrations of 0.150 g/100 mL of blood or higher was 65.8% (Chart 6), which is significantly more than the 44% of breath test subjects with alcohol concentrations of 0.150 g/210 L of breath or higher.

Chart 6: Blood Alcohol Subject Test Results by Selected Ranges

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Ethanol (g/100mL)

1.1% 2.1%6.0%

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0.010 to 0.019 0.020 to 0.039 0.040 to 0.079 0.080 to 0.149≥ 0.150


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Breath Test Program ISDT certified an additional ignition interlock device model in 2018, bringing the total number of certified device models to eight. Certifications are valid for three years. Vendors of certified device models reported that 1,541 certified ignition interlock devices were installed in vehicles in Indiana at the end of December. This is 30% increase over the number of installed devices reported in 2017. There were 207 Intox EC/IR II evidentiary breath test instruments located throughout the state at the end of 2018, as shown in Figure 1. This is two fewer instruments than was reported in 2017. Indiana Administrative Code (Title 260) requires ISDT to inspect and certify each breath test instrument at least once every 180 days. All of the required breath test instrument inspections and certifications remained current during 2018. The Department also routinely completed instrument service requests by the next business day. The measurement uncertainty for each evidentiary breath test instrument is calculated as part of each inspection and is reported on each breath test instrument certification as required by ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation standards. ISDT conducted 12 breath test operator classes at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in 2018. Enrollment for each class was limited to 40 students. A total of 459 new law enforcement officers were trained and certified as breath test operators in 2018. This was 20 more officers than were trained in 2017. Any person certified as a breath test operator must be recertified at least every two years from the month of the last certification or recertification. The number of recertifications per year is governed, in part, by the number of certification expirations that will occur in the year. Due to the transition to the Intox EC/IR II evidentiary breath test instrument in 2014, the majority of breath test operators are recertified in even numbered years. In 2018, 3,269 officers were recertified, compared to 549 operators in 2017. In 2019, the breath test operators who were either certified (439) or recertified (549) in 2017 will be due for recertification.

Figure 1: Location of ISDT Certified Breath Test Instruments


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Table 3 lists the number of breath tests administered in each county.

Table 3: County and Number of Subject Tests Conducted

Lake 1835 Howard 192 Washington 88 Sullivan 44

Allen 1205 Boone 189 Vermillion 87 Brown 42

Elkhart 1091 Dearborn 178 Dubois 86 Carroll 42

Marion 993 Cass 172 Jennings 86 Jefferson 40

Porter 829 Bartholomew 168 Wabash 86 Perry 39

Hamilton 811 Warrick 157 Morgan 83 Newton 38

Clark 570 Miami 153 Noble 80 Ripley 38

Hendricks 444 Whitley 151 Greene 78 Crawford 36

Vanderburgh 438 Decatur 137 Montgomery 78 Fayette 35

St. Joseph 428 Grant 132 Owen 78 Marshall 34

Floyd 410 Adams 125 Tipton 77 Ohio 34

Tippecanoe 379 Shelby 120 Scott 75 Martin 32

Monroe 345 Jasper 118 White 72 Switzerland 32

Johnson 344 LaGrange 118 Orange 70 Warren 28

LaPorte 332 Jackson 117 Parke 65 Benton 27

Hancock 283 Putnam 99 Clay 57 Union 26

Madison 259 Harrison 97 Pike 56 Pulaski 23

Henry 251 Knox 97 Fountain 55 Blackford 22

Vigo 242 Steuben 95 Jay 55 Gibson 22

Delaware 223 Wells 94 Randolph 55 Wayne 18

Clinton 218 Huntington 93 Spencer 52 Starke 11

DeKalb 208 Daviess 89 Posey 50 Rush 8

Kosciusko 204 Lawrence 88 Franklin 45 Fulton 3


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Chart 7: State of Issued Driver License Certified breath test operators administered 12,391 completed subject breath tests in 2018, which is 1,336 fewer than in 2017, and 2,057 fewer than in 2016. This decrease in the number of breath tests could account for some of the increase in laboratory submissions. The seven counties with the greatest number of subject tests administered were the same in 2018 as reported in 2017 and 2016. The actual order varied slightly, but Lake County has consistently had the greatest

number of breath tests administered. These seven counties accounted for approximately 38% of all the breath tests attempted and/or completed in 2018. Of the subjects tested in 2018, 88.1% had licenses from Indiana, 3.3% from Illinois, 2.2% from Kentucky, 1.1% from both Michigan and Ohio, and the remaining 4.2% were from other states and countries. This breakdown by states is consistent with those reported in 2017 and 2016. Of the subjects whose tests resulted in at least two reported alcohol concentrations, 9% had results between 0.000 and 0.079 g/210 L of breath; 47% had breath alcohol concentrations between 0.080 and 0.149 g/210 L of breath; and 44 % had results of 0.150 g/210 L of breath or higher, as indicated in Chart 8. Subjects with breath alcohol concentrations over 0.040 g/210 L of breath, but under the 0.080 g/210 L of breath limit for vehicle operation, constituted 5.7% of all breath test subjects.

Chart 8: Breath Alcohol Subject Test Results by Selected Ranges

As shown in Chart 9, the age range of subjects tested using the Intox EC/IR II evidentiary breath test instrument was between 12 and 88 years old, with the greatest number of subjects at age 24,

2.7% 0.2%0.5%

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44.1%0.000 g/210L0.006-0.019 g/210L0.020-0.039 g/210L0.040-0.079 g/210L0.080-0.149 g/210L≥ 0.150 g/210L

88.1%

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IndianaIllinoisKentuckyMichiganOhioOther


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or 4.7 % of all tests attempted. Subjects under age 21 constituted 4.4% of all subjects tested in the 2018 distribution, as compared to 4.6% in 2017.

Chart 9: Number of Breath Alcohol Subjects Tested by Age

0100200300400500600700800

12 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58 61 64 67 70 73 76 79 84 88

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Organizational Chart

Director

Toxicologist/Quality Control Coordinator Assistant Director

Administrative Assistant

Forensic Evidence Specialist

Forensic Evidence Specialist

Analytical Laboratory Supervisor

Forensic Scientist

Forensic Scientist

Forensic Scientist

Forensic Scientist

Forensic ScientistForensic

Scientist

Forensic Scientist

Forensic Scientist

Forensic Scientist

Forensic Scientist

Breath Test Program Supervisor

Program Coordinator

Breath Test Instrument Inspector




General Counsel


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Contact Information:

Indiana State Department of Toxicology 550 W. 16th Street, Suite A Indianapolis, IN 46202-2203

Web: www.IN.gov/isdt General agency number (317) 921-5000 Fax (317) 925-9430 Director Ed Littlejohn (317) 921-5006 [email protected] Assistant Director Christina Beymer, Ph.D. (317) 921-5005 [email protected] General Counsel Teri Kendrick (317) 921-5002 [email protected] Forensic Toxicologist Sheila A. Arnold, Ph.D. Quality Control Coordinator (317) 921-5003 [email protected] Analytical Lab Supervisor Stephen A. Davis, Ph.D. (317) 921-5005 [email protected] Breath Test Program Supervisor Dana Bors, Ph.D. (317) 921-5008 [email protected]


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http://www.in.gov/isdt

mailto:[email protected]






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